Search the guard's remains for his blaster. Can't hurt to have one, given our hero's terrible luck so far.

That doesn't sound like a bad idea at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stiv

> get gun
> shoot Buddy

Can you even shoot him? I can't remember.

Let's find out - take this, you ghoulish freak of nature!

Hmm, nope, it looks like Buddy is impervious to Gus' laser blasts. Oh well, consider how hard it is to tell him apart from the other block headed, white-skinned aliens* that you'll run across in this game, it's probably best that you can't kill him by accident. Guess we'll just have to follow him...for now.

Coming into the next screen we find ourselves face to face with an enemy. Yes, that's an enemy, Buddy doesn't wear a red sash. Time to put our recently acquired firearm to use!

For a particle physicist, Angus is a stone-cold badass. Shooting the enemy once turns them into a charred skeleton, which will then explode if you wait long enough (or shoot it again). Nasty! Also note that there are people running around in the foreground, which is a pretty awesome trick for an early-90s game.

Coming into the next area, we see three locked doors. Buddy sets to work decoding them, so it's up to Gus to hold the fort while he works. This is a perfect opportunity to find out about the two alternate fire modes of the blaster. If you hold the button down for a short while, a small sphere of energy appears at the end of the barrel:

Releasing the trigger sends the ball forward a short distance, where it creates a shield in front of Angus that will block enemy laser blasts. Handy! Enemies often announce their presence by sending sphere balls onto the screen before stepping into view themselves. These shields will disappear after taking enough damage, or after a set amount of time.

Taking cover behind his shield, Angus tries out the third fire mode on the blaster. Holding the button down for a longer amount of time creates a larger sphere of energy at the end of the barrel. And what should happen if we were to release the trigger?

Phoom! A super charged shot like this will take out an enemy shield in one blast, leaving them open for a quick followup shot. They can also be used to destroy doors, much like the ones we're waiting behind right now. So why don't we just blast our way out? It seems like the blaster that Angus picked up wasn't fully charged - in this first section, it's entirely possible to run out of energy and find yourself completely helpless. We certainly don't have enough energy to destroy all three of these doors, so the only option for now is to fight off the guards and hope that Gus can hold them off until Buddy figures out how to unlock these doors.

Oops. On the bright side, we have now confirmed that Buddy can indeed be vaporized, just not by your own shots.

And then their skeletons exploded.

This time, things went a little better. Buddy unlocks the door and we book it into the next room.

Hey, it's an elevator! Let's go see what's upstairs.

Oh hey, a scenic viewpoint. Let's have a quick look outside.

Well would you look at that. Hey, I can see my house from up here!

*Yes, I know, technically speaking the only alien anywhere to be seen is Angus. Makes you think.